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Retaining good employees in spite of pay freezes and cuts to employee benefits will be the biggest challenge facing agency human resources officials next year. Federal News Radio asked chief human capital officers to reflect on 2011 and make predictions for 2012.

Next Novemeber I hit my 20th year. I'm still in my 40's and I live in a high cost area of the country. Pay freezes hit us disproportionately higher...something the wiz kids can't figure out. As my nom de plume says, I'm a radar tech. I also work Data (that's LANS and IT). I came into the DoT from the DoD with 6 years of specialized electronics training and depot level/component level repair skills. I was and am an award winner...as in cash awards...for my work performance. I also have plaques and trophies, etc. It took about 3 years for me to get trained up to actually do my job after coming in the door with 6 years of excellent work history in the field. There are fewer than 1000 of us that do what I do in the entire country...and a 3 year lag time to train a replacement. If folks like me start to decide, en masse to look for something a bit better...a place where we won't be the scape goats for the malfeasance of the political class and the senior executive class...you can kiss safe aviation goodbye. You can also start looking to pay a contractor at least 1.83 times what you were paying me. I'm not stupid, I always look for a lilly pad to land on before I jump. The point is, these pay freezes and talk of retirement gouges, despite my continued superior contributions (yep, every single year, I am awarded a superior contribution increase because gosh darn it, I'm worth it...I earned it) have not got me looking around and polishing up my resume. It's easier to find work when you are working and it is better to look before you are 50. I'm not going to wait around to be layed off in my 50's or have my pay frozen for 5 more years, which with real inflation (not the garbage numbers of CPI, but including food and fuel) so high it is a pay cut. So, here is the bottom line. You should be worried. Folks like me don't just appear -POOF!- off the street. You can get some management type or administrative hack anywhere and cheap. They are a dime a dozen. Don't play that game with your technical folks. We don't like it.

I am guessing that you fix radar problems when an air traffic controller starts yelling about problems with the radar. If so, that is one tough job with huge amounts of technical skill, including much math, required. And you put up with much @#@## from the controllers. (If I am wrong forgive me) I can understand your points and agree with you 100%. Good luch whatever decision you make.

Yes, you got it right. Lots of technical skill and mathematics, shift work, expert climbers, high voltage workers (arc flash/blast), essential personnel working fire/life/safety issues and on call 24/7, weekends and holidays, etc. Thank you for the encouraging words.
I love what I do. My whole unit loves what we do. We don't even put in for overtime unless we start running about an hour or more into "working for the flag". We just do it. We work during blizzards and hurricanes...driving in when the highways are closed. We volunteer for new prototypes and have been a key site for many. It's just so frustrating that we are being depicted as "the enemy" of the people by congress and the media. It stinks to have your pay frozen because congress can't seem to cut money going to support Fannie and Freddie or some jet that the Air Force doesn't want/need...but they can freeze our pay at a whim to make it look like they are doing something. The money they are "saving" on our backs is peanuts compared to the money they waste in cost overruns to contractors and the thousands of pork projects.
I'm sorry I vented, but it really is making me start to look around and see what else is out there for a person with skills. I have a wife and 3 young kids to think about.
I wasn't kidding about that "contractors cost 1.83 times what federal workers cost" thing. You can check out the report at http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/reports/contract-oversight/bad-business/co-gp-20110913.html
If congress wants to save money...stop outsourcing federal jobs to contractors!
"POGO’s study shows that the federal government approves service contract billing rates that, on average, pay contractors 1.83 times more than the government pays federal employees in total compensation, and more than 2 times the full compensation paid in the private sector for comparable services. Given that one-quarter of all discretionary spending now goes to service contractors, a reassessment of the total federal work force, with a focus on contractor billing rates, could save taxpayers billions of dollars annually."
Finally, I would like to note that in my facilitiy, we do have a very good rapore with the ATC folks. The pressure comes from knowing that hundreds to thousands of folks are in the air depending on our equipment to work...and they don't even know it. Each aircraft with 80-200 souls on board moving at 250-300 knts in 3 dimensions...
Anyway, thanks again for the kind and encouraging words. Good luck to us all and may God save the Republic.

In this economy, CHCOs are worried about losing talent? Feds are going anywhere in this economy. They need their jobs and their paychecks. And, if they do lose some talent, there are plenty of talented people waiting to fill the shoes of those who leave.

I wrote to their public email address and received this reply: "You have contacted the Chief Human Capital Officers Council mailbox. This mailbox is for CHCO Council member use only. Questions from the public or federal employees are not responded to from this mailbox." If that is the case they don't need to post their email address on http://www.chcoc.gov/ContactUs.aspx with the statement For General Inquiries, please contact us at chcoc@opm.gov.
If my email was not wanted why did whoever replied on behalf of the council copy them? He included a CC:chcoc@opm.gov - just saying..
But I am only a Federal Employee - doesn't that make me Human Capital? Do they wonder why people are leaving? or don't really care?